Health, Nutrition and Fitness with Crohn's Disease

Road to Men’s Physique 2017 – 4 weeks out and coming in hot!

Let’s try this again for 2017. I will be competing in Men’s Physique at the 2017 Kelowna Classic in Kelowna, British Columbia, on May 6th!

Unfortunately a late start to the posts leading up to the show but I have been quietly putting in work for the last 6 weeks. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to compete this year while trying establish a career. I haven’t been working much and have had the time this time to put into training, cardio, nutrition, mobility and posing.

I did my first show in 2015 and accomplished a major life goal of stepping on stage after suffering so many setbacks with Crohn’s Disease while working towards a Bachelor of Science degree. Last year in 2016, I announced I would be competing again but ended up suffering a torn ACL, MCL and Meniscus which required surgery, forcing me to pull out of the show 8 weeks out. My ACL still requires surgery but it does not hold me back from most lower body movements or upper body training.

The overwhelming amount of emotions stepping on stage and pushing myself beyond what I thought I was capable of is what it is about for me. Stepping on stage in 2015 was particularly emotional for me as this was a life goal that I thought I could never accomplish since being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2009. I proved to myself that I will not let Crohn’s get in the way of the things I really want to do. It feels like I am beating my disease and there is no better feeling for me than feeling like I am in control of my health.

Starting from scratch and working my way from 150 lbs, honestly thinking I was going to die, to 5 years later stepping on stage at 194 lbs at around 5% body fat. I was there to prove to myself something I did not think I was capable of. I definitely accomplished that. I always said it’s not about how I place, I did it for the personal accomplishment whether I get first or last, I will be happy with what I achieved. This year I know what to expect and how to fix my mistakes I made the first time around. I want to redeem myself and once again show myself what is possible. I am chasing self-gratification not gratification from anyone else. If I can share my experience and motivate others, that is just icing on the cake for me. I want to prove to myself that I can accomplish amazing things if I want it bad enough.

Doing things differently for 2017

I beat myself into the ground, over trained and dieted too hard too early in 2015. The fat loss plateaued early and I had a real hard time getting leaner in the last 5 weeks. This time around I did a 10 week cut but I was significantly less aggressive out of the gates. I did a slow controlled deficit of calories without introducing any cardio until 6 weeks out. I am progressively increasing my activity level each week with more steps per day, intermittent fasting 1-2x/week and increasing cardio sessions while lowering calories slowly each week. I will explain this further in upcoming posts.

I am almost 4 weeks out and am still eating 2550 calories a day. Comparatively, in 2015 at this time I was eating 2150 calories a day. By building my metabolism up in the offseason, I can diet on more calories seeing the same results as when I was eating less. I am a little behind where I want to be with 4 weeks out so I am dropping my calories down to 2450 per day while increasing cardio to 3 LISS sessions of about 20-30 minutes each. I constantly reassess where I am at each week and adjust according to how my body is changing.

At 6 feet and currently about 201 lbs with 4 weeks out planning on being around 197-198 lbs on stage. I currently have a 31” waist with 18” arms, right where I want to be to be competitive in this competition. I will be bringing improved conditioning and a much more detailed physique this time around.

I am so excited to share the good, the bad, the triumphs and hopefully no defeats as I continue pushing the last 4 weeks on the road to the Men’s Physique stage May 6th, 2017!

If you’re interested in more information on Men’s Physique and my journey to the stage in 2015, here’s a link to my previous post.